What does Rivet mean?

A metal accessory that is used to reinforce stress points and serve as non-functional ornamentation.

They were introduced by Nevada-based tailor Jacob Davis, who borrowed the technique from horse blankets.

Heddels explains Rivet

Jacob Davis first used rivets on a pair of pants he created for a woodcutter. As he was working on the pants, he happened to notice a pile of rivets that he used on horse blankets. He hammered them onto the pocket corners, correctly reasoning that they would make the pants last a bit longer.

Word spread about the success of these new riveted pants, and Davis, now partnered with Levi Strauss, applied for a patent. On May 20th, 1873, the court granted the pair the patent for their “improvement on fastening seams”, a date that has become known as the birthday of blue jeans.

Additional Resources

A close-up of a rivet on a pair of 45 rpm raw denim:

Source: blog.andrewng.com